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The consumer economy also maintained most of its momentum last month, with unsecured lending nudging down to 9.9 per cent on an annual basis, versus 10 per cent in the previous month.

The figures leave the door open to the first increase in UK interest rates in more than a decade when the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets on Thursday.

The cost of borrowing has been at a historic low of 0.25 per cent since August of last year.

The UK's housing market has slowed since the June 2016 vote to leave the European Union, particularly in London and neighbouring parts of England.

Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, noted that mortgage approvals still remain “well below” the monthly average of 81,779 seen between 1993 and 2017.

“While housing market activity has firmed modestly from the lows seen around June, September's second successive dip in mortgage approvals reinforces our belief that there is unlikely to be a sustained, significant upturn in housing market activity any time soon,” Archer said.

“Housing market activity is being pressured by weakened consumer purchasing power and substantial consumer wariness over engaging in major transactions. It is also very possible that potential house buyers will be concerned by the BoE indicating that interest rates could well rise sooner rather than later, with a hike as soon as November a very real possibility.”

The initial impact of raising rates back to 0.5 per cent – their level for seven years until last August's cut – could be muted for most. Less than 30 per cent of households have mortgages, and 60 per cent of those are on fixed-rate deals. Fifteen years ago, the ratio of those on fixed-rate deals was just 30 per cent.

The BoE has already expressed its concerns about unsecured credit levels, having told lenders last month that they need to hold an extra £10bn of capital to guard against consumer loans going sour. Government data issued last week showed that personal insolvencies rose to a five-year high during the third quarter of this year.